Please join Barker for a provocative and important presentation on a subject too-seldom explored: what black Americans think about transracial adoption. The featured speaker is Rhonda Roorda, a highly regarded national presenter on transracial adoption, who herself was adopted into a white family. On Sunday, November 15, from 3-5 PM at Barker, she will take us through the complex territory of transracial adoption and help us as parents and professionals strive to do a better job of understanding the challenges. After the presentation and Q & A, Rhonda will sign her new book: In Their Voices: Black Americans on Transracial Adoption.

The question for many of us is: if I myself have never been part of a minority culture – racially, religiously – how can I help my transracially adopted child recognize, reject, and deal with racism? And what kind of support networks need to be in place for white parents who adopt black and biracial children, and for their children?

In providing this much needed addition to our understanding of transracial adoption, Rhonda has interviewed sixteen distinguished African Americans and has collated their insights in an anthology the Barker community will digest and revisit. As Phil Bertelson, a transracially adopted African American producer and director, has said, “This book represents the dinner party I wish my parents had thrown – full of interesting African Americans whose wisdom I now know reflects my own experience.”

You won’t want to miss this opportunity to hear Ms. Roorda and dialogue with others who care about the issues of transracial adoption, whether personally or professionally. The fee is $35 per couple, or $25 per person, and includes a copy of the highly acclaimed book. Refreshments will be served!

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Non-Discrimination Statement

The Barker Adoption Foundation welcomes adoption applications from couples and individuals of all religious and ethnic backgrounds, and all sexual orientations and gender expressions.

The Barker Adoption Foundation, with offices in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. is a nonprofit adoption agency. We support birth parents and their families, as well as adoptive parents and adoptees with lifelong adoption-related services.